In the U.S., a burglary currently occurs every 13 seconds. Accordingly, security systems have gained popularity for home owners and businesses alike. For businesses that lease spaces, a security system is a necessity to compete in the marketplace. Whether it be the lease of apartments, office space, industrial space or self-storage facilities, the ability to attract new customers is greatly dependent upon a reliable security system to protect the tenants' valuable assets.
For self-storage facilities a reliable security system is important, not only to attract new tenants, but also to retain existing tenants. The term self storage facility describes a plurality of freestanding buildings with a plurality of separate, individual storage units that are typically rented on a monthly basis. In many of these facilities, tenants are responsible for the security of their units. Accordingly, the tenant will put a pad lock on the door to the unit to prevent theft. Unfortunately, the padlock can be easily defeated by simply using a bolt cutter to remove the padlock and gain access to the contents of the unit.
Electronic door alarms are also used in some self-storage facilities. Typically, these individual door alarms are hardwired devices that use a magnetic switch mounted to the floor or wall next to the door and a magnet mounted on the moving portion of the door. When the door is opened the magnet moves away from the switch, causing the switch to open the circuit, thereby signaling the opening of the unit door.
There is a trend toward offering these door alarms in new self-storage facilities. Self-storage facilities that have individual unit door alarms can normally attract a higher number of tenants and charge a higher rent per square foot than those facilities without the alarms. As a result, there is pressure on the owners of existing units to update security in order to retain existing tenants and attract new tenants.
Retrofitting an existing self storage unit with individual door alarms, however, is a difficult task. A hardwired security system is not a viable option, due to logistical problems and overwhelming expense. Typically, magnetic contacts are mounted inside the unit to protect from being defeated by a thief. If the magnetic contacts are mounted inside the unit, however, there is the need to access a tenant's space to install the system. Since the tenant typically puts a padlock on the unit, it is impossible for the owner of the facility to access the individual units without getting permission and cooperation from each tenant. As a result, this type of system is difficult to implement.
If the magnetic contacts were placed on the outside of each unit, in order to avoid accessing all the individual units, there are obvious security concerns. Placing the magnet contacts outside the unit gives a thief access to both the magnet and magnetic switch. Since standard magnets and biased magnets can be easily defeated, the owner of the facility would be forced to use a high-security magnet. Unfortunately, the cost of these high-security magnets dramatically increases the total cost of the system. The cost of using a high-security magnet, along with the costs of wiring, conduit and installation, prevents hardwired systems from being a cost-effective option for retrofitting existing self-storage facilities with security systems.
In order to lower the costs of wiring an existing unit, wireless security systems have been proposed. The wireless security systems work in a similar manner to that of magnetic contact systems. If the magnet moves away from the switch the system will transmit an RF alarm signal to a remote station.
Unfortunately, wireless systems do not work within either new or existing self-storage units, due to the typical metal construction of the units. As a result of the metal construction, the wireless detectors cannot transmit outside the unit to a remote station in a reliable manner. Moreover, the installation of the magnetic contacts, as with the hardwired systems, requires access to all the individual units.
Therefore, there is a need for a reliable security system that can be easily installed in either new or existing self-storage facilities in a cost-effective manner.